Railroad-track construction.



PATENTED SEPT. 4, 1906. V. UEDELHOPEN.

RAILROAD TRACK CONSTRUCTION. APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 29. 1905.

I i I.

C Q j 4 F @5 a (/5 f a F 0 O (1/ s J J a? YHE NcRRls PEISRS ca,wumrvo'ron, n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT QFFTGE.

RAILROAD-TRACK CONSTRUCTION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 4, 1906.

Application filed June 29, 1905. Serial No. 267,550.

To all whom it may concern:

Be, it known that I, VALENTIN UEDEL- HOFEN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Lakeside, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRailroad-Track Construction, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in railroad-track construction, andhas for its object a railroad construction that will be practicallycontinuous, avoiding all open joints.

A further object is a track construction in which the upper or wearingsurface of the rail may be quickly removed and a new top sectionsubstituted Without disturbing the track.

A further object is a track construction which will prevent the creepingof the rail.

Among further objects of my invention are to provide a trackconstruction of such a nature that soft-wood sleepers may beefl'ectively used, tie-plates may be eliminated, noise, especially onelevated structures, may be lessened, lighter or heavier treads may besubstituted without disturbing the track construction, and danger ofaccident from broken rails may be eliminated.

These and such other objects as may hereinafter appear are attained bymy device, an embodiment of which is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure 1 represents a side elevation of my rail andjoint with a portion of the splicebar broken away. Fig. 2 represents aplan view of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 represents a sectional view on the line3 3 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Like letters of reference indicate the same parts in the severalfigiu'es of the drawings.

Referring now to the drawings, A represents the base-rail,B B the toprail, and C a splice-bar comprising an upper chord c, a lower chord c, adepending flange c and a depending lug 0 The base-rail A comprises alower member or plate a, a vertically-proj ecting flange a, preferablyin the center, and a pair of small upwardly-projecting flanges a a oneither side of the central flange a, forming a groove D on either sideof the verticallyprojecting flange a. The top rail B B comprises a topsection b and depending flanges or bearing-strips b adapted to fit intothe grooves D. The flanges or bearing-strips b extend downwardly,forming a slot E therebetween, adapted to receive theverticallyprojecting flange a of the base-rail, and the flanges orbearing-strips b are concaved on their outer surfaces to receive theconvexlyformed splice-bars C.

F represents a tie-plate comprising a flat sheet of metal adapted toextend from tie to tie, if desired, having spike-holes at suitabledistances and provided with an opening G,

adapted to receive the downwardly-dependmg lug c.

H H represent bolts and nuts adapted to secure thesplice-bars and railstogether, and I I represent spikes holding the combined rail,splice-bar, and plate to the ties J J Referring to the assembling andoperation of the parts of my device, when the combined rail and jointonly are used without the use of a tie-plate the base-rail is first laidon the ties in proper position. The top rail is then fitted 011 theruqwardly-extending flange a, care being taken to break joint withrelation to the upper and lower sections. The upper rail is preferablyout diagonally or scarfed, so that when the parts are fitted togetherthe rail-tread will be continuous, olferiug no break to the tread of thewheels when trains are passing over the track, since the ends'of thetread-rail are supported by the continuous rail-base, the ends of thebase coming, preferably, about midway between the ends of thetread-rail, and vice Versa. Consequently the rail structure iscontinuously rigid, and there is no pounding of the joints, andtherefore the noise resulting therefrom is practically eliminated, thewear upon the ties which ordinarily results under joints is avoided, andthe constant repair of the road-bed where it is pounded under therailjoints is eliminated.

The parts may be so proportioned that the entire bearing strain of thetrafiic will be borne by the downwardly-depending flanges 1) 12 thuspreserving the top of the flange o from wear. This makes it easy whenthe tread-rail is worn sufliciently to require re-- newal or when aheavier tread-rail is required to substitute new sections therefor,whereas if the top part of the flange a were subjected to a wearing orpounding it would in a sense become distorted, rendering it difficult toslip the tread-rail section in place.

It is a well-known fact that many railroad accidents are attributable tobroken rails, and in a great majority of cases the break in the railoccurs near the joint, and the joint itself is the primary cause forsuch fracture. The necessary space allowed between abutting rails totake care of the contraction and expansion leaves at most seasons of theyear an open space or a space filled with a shim which in no way takesthe place of the piece left out, whereas with my improved inven tion,inasmuch as the tread-rail and the base rail are separate from eachother, but are securely fastened together, .a break in the tread-rail orin the base-rail is of no immediate moment, as the parts cannot becomedisplaced because thereof, and the rail-surface remains substantiallycontinuous and properly supported. The constant pounding of the wheelsagainst the opposite ends of the joints, with the occasional extrapounding caused by flat wheels, soon loosens the tie or ties adjacent tothe joint. When tie-plates are used extending from one tie to another,this of course lessens the danger; but in the end both ties areloosened, and the same result occurs. This constant pounding,espepecially in frosty weather, is very apt to break off the rail eithera few inches or a foot or so from the end. By the use, however, of myimproved rail construction the oints between the base-rail and thejoints between the tread-rail are always several feet apart, making, sofar as the entire construction is concerned, a continuous rail. Inaddition thereto the scarflng of the top rail diagonally of the trackrenders it absolutely impossible to have any open joint for the wheel topound against. The bolt-holes through the splicebars are preferablyelongated in order to accommodate the ordinary contraction and expansionand to render it easier to lay the track.

When my construction is used in connection with the tie-plate F, thedanger incident to creeping rail is still further lessened, as thedownwardly-projecting lug c fits snugly within the opening in the plate,and as the plate and splice bars are firmly spiked to the ties,,as wellas bolted together, it is absolutely impossible for any appreciablelineal extension of the track to occur. So, also, it will be seen thatinasmuch as the recesses inthe tie-plate prevent the lateral as well asthe longitudinal displacement of the splice-bars the coengagementbetween the splice-bars and the tie-plate serves to give furtherrigidity to the joint and to more efficiently clamp thedownwardly-depending flanges of the tread-rail to the upwardly-extendingflange of the base-rail, the clamping means or side bars being each thusheld at least two points from lateral displacement, as shown in thesection view in Fig. 3, the upper chords of the splice-bars being heldby the clamping bolt and nut and the downwardly-projecting flanges beingheld by the lateral coengagement between the splicebars and thetie-plate. The efiiciency of this feature of my invention is due in nosmall degree to the shape of the tread-sections in cross-section. Itwill be noted that there is no overhanging portion in my pre ferredconstruction, but the sides of the top section b and of the dependingflanges or bearing-strips b are in vertical alinement with each other,the flanges merely being slightly hollowed to receive the splice-barswhen the splice-bars are used. Consequently I am enabled to make a longscarfed joint of the tread-sections of the rail, because the extremepoints of the adjacent ends of the rails on the scarfed joint aredirectly supported by the depending flanges, whereas when the tread ofthe rail is made to substantially overhang the depending flanges suchlong scarfed joints are impractical, as they provide the rail withpointed ends which have no support and Which will therefore sag andbreak away. Because of the fact that with my construction the treadsection may be made with a long scarfed joint it is entirely practicalto secure such joints by several bolts, even without the use ofsplice-bars. In other words, with my structure of rail it is possible tomake such a long scarfed joint that even without the use of splice-barsthe joint may be sufficiently secured by bolts, so as to prevent thetapered ends of the rails from creeping ortraveling on each other.Consequently such a joint may be safely made with or without the use ofsplice-bars, thereby providing the smooth travel thereover of thecar-wheels. The bolts will secure such scarfed joints together and tothe base of the rails, and the abutting ends of the base-sections of therails will further prevent any traveling of the rails with relation toeach other, which otherwise might tend to result by the use of suchscarfed oint, and at the same time the scarfed joints may be ofsufficient length for this purpose because, as noted, the extremetapered ends of the rails will have suflicient direct support. It willthus be seen that inasmuch as the rail-tread alone receives theprincipal wear it is practical, Without greatly-increased cost, to makemy improved track construction with such a Width to the base-rail as maybe desired, so that a sufficiently-broad bearing may be had in order toobtain the necessary support from a soft tie, which, as is known, ismuch less expensive and often stands the weather for a longer periodthan a hardwood tie, and the greater primary cost for such broaderrail-base would be of minor importance because the original rail-basethus installed will outlast many successive treadrails which will bemounted thereon. So, also, as the demands of traffic require it thetreadrail may be increased in weight from time to time, as desired,without disturbing the roadbed proper or the base-rail. In like mannersince the rail-base does not need to be constantly replaced and may beof any width desired tie-plates may be eliminated, and, as previouslynoted, noise will be largely reduced, which is of particular importanceon elevated structures, such as the elevated railways in cities, andrepairs in the way of replacing rail-treads may be quickly made, whichis also of importance in such situations Where trains follow each otherat short intervals, and, as previously noted, the parts will be sounited to each other and to the ties or sleepers that traveling of therail will be prevented.

WVhile I have illustrated one embodiment of my invenion, I am aware thatother forms are possible without departing from the spirit of myinvention.

I claim 1. A railroad-track construction, comprising a tie-plate andmeans for securing the same to a suitable base, rails comprising basemembers having an upwardly-extending flange and tread members havingdownwardly-extending flanges with concave outer surfaces and adapted tofit over the complementary base members, and means for uniting saidtread-member rails to each other and for preventing the spreading of theflanges thereof, said means comprising splicebars having upper and lowerchords, the upper chord having convex inner surfaces, means for clampingthe upper chords of said splice bars against opposite sides of saidtread members, and coengaging means between said splice-bars and saidtie-plate adapted to further hold said splice-bars against thedownwardly-depending flanges of said tread members.

2. A railroad-track construction, comprising a tie-plate and means forsecuring the same to a suitable base, rails comprising base membershaving an upwardly-extending flange and tread members havingdownwardly-extending flanges and adapted to fit over said base members,and means for uniting said tread-member rails and for preventing thespreading of the flanges thereof said means comprising splice-barshaving upper and lower chords, and means for clamping the upper chordsof said splice-bars against opposite sides of said tread member theupper chords of the splice-bars and the downwardlyextending flanges ofthe tread members being formed with interfitting curved contactingsurfaces, said tie-plate being provided with recesses and saidsplice-bars being provided with downwardly-projecting flanges engagingthe walls of said recesses, so as to confine said splice-bars againstlateral displacement.

3. In a continuous track-rail, the combination with a series ofbase-pieces, said basepieces comprising a base, an upwardly-extendingflange, a series of grooves, on either side of said flange, extendinglengthwise of the rail, adjacent sections of said base-pieces abuttingcrosswise of the rail, a series of top sections adapted to fit over saidupwardly-extending flange, the opposite ends of said top sectionsabutting diagonally, the upper and lower sections breaking joint andsplice-bars embracing the sides of the top sections and extending inboth directions beyond the extremities of the diagonal joint of the topsections.

V ALENTIN UEDELHOFEN. l/Vitnesses O. R. BARNETT, G. Y. DANKWARD.

